When the Day Met the Night
by SirPenguin
Summary: A collection of Hijack one-shots. [No Smut]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own either How To Train Your Dragon or Rise of the Guardians (this is pretty obvious, but it stands for any other one-shot I've written here). **

Cursing under his breath, Hiccup slipped over the ice and landed on his back. Again.  
Wincing, he tried to pull himself up only to fall back down. Toothless made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh causing the viking to glare at him. "Yeah, keep laughing, you over-grown lizard. It's not like you can do any better." He finally managed to pull himself back up, grinning in triumph as he attempted to balance himself.  
He and Toothless had retired to the cove after what seemed like hours of flying. Which was fine, if it wasn't for the fact that his prosthetic lost traction over every patch of ice (it was much more icy than he had remembered). The amount of times he fell was almost embarrassing and his friend wasn't helping in the least.  
Redirecting his grin back to his friend, he let out a small chuckle. "I think I got the hang of—" An expertly thrown snowball cut off his words and sent him sprawling on the icy terrain. It took a few moments of him blinking owlishly before he could finally wrap his head around what had just occurred. "Ha ha, very funny. Now come out here."  
The only answer he got was a very definitive bout of human laughter echoing his dragon's. "I can hear you," he called after a few seconds. Whoever threw the offending snow was going to feel the full of his viking wrath.  
The laughter died down, replaced instead by rustling as the person got closer. A boy a little older than Hiccup with snow white hair popped out of the bushes. "You can hear me?"  
The viking directed a glare at the boy. "Shocking, I know."  
"You're looking at me," he breathed. A slow smile bloomed upon his face before he jumped off the ground, letting out an exclamation of joy. Sooner than Hiccup could try another attempt at pulling himself up, the strange boy was rushing to his side, sticking his face close to the others. "You can see me, right?"  
Pushing the boy back a few inches, Hiccup rolled his eyes. "This may be news to you, but you don't have to shove your face in mine for me to see you."  
Ignoring his words, the boy slapped his hands over the viking's cheeks. He was cold—almost unnaturally so. A small shiver worked its way along Hiccup's spine. "I can touch you."  
"You can stop."  
"What's your name?" he demanded, again disregarding Hiccup's words.  
Pulling his hands away, Hiccup eyed him warily. "Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III." The boy snickered softly. "What's so funny?" Hiccup asked even though he knew where the conversation was going.  
"What kind of name is that?" he choked out between a fit of laughter.  
Feeling mildly put off, Hiccup struggled to stand. "It's a viking thing." The other boy raised a brow. "Yes, I know I don't exactly look like one. No, you don't need to say it."  
Jumping to his feet, the white haired boy held out a hand. "I wasn't going to say that. My name's Jack Frost by the way."  
Jack Frost? Hiccup frowned; the name sounded sort of familiar... Begrudgingly accepting Jack's outstretched hand, Hiccup let him pull him to his feet. "Nice to meet you, Jack." He looked down at the hand still gripping his. "You can let me go now."  
Spinning in circles, Jack forced Hiccup to slide along the ice with him. "I haven't been seen by someone in years. This is so exciting!"  
Hiccup disregarded his words as he was starting to feel dizzy. "And now you're spinning..."  
"We should have a snow ball fight."  
The viking sighed, feeling a bit awkward in the face of Jack's excitement. "This conversation is feeling very one sided."  
"This is just...wow! I can't believe I can actually—is that a dragon?" Jack let go of Hiccup's hand only to realize his mistake a moment too late.  
Again, the viking boy found himself sprawled out on the cold ground. "Ow! Why would you do that?"  
"Oops. Sorry about that, Hic. Need a hand?"  
Huffing out a breath, Hiccup wrinkled his nose at the nickname. "I think I'm fine down here."  
Anchoring his...giant stick onto his shoulder, he faced Toothless. "It's a dragon." He nudged Hiccup with his bare—seriously, what was wrong with this kid?—foot. "Did you see the dragon?"  
"He's a friend and his name's Toothless." He pulled himself into a sitting position.  
Hiccup's mouth dropped unceremoniously as Jack literally floated off the ground and glided over to the Night Fury. Toothless bared his teeth at Jack, clearly finding his apparent flight as unnerving as the viking did. "Not exactly toothless," he muttered under his breath.  
Scrambling to his feet, Hiccup slid and slipped over to his dragon's side, using the Night Fury to steady himself. Gripping a fallen tree branch in his hands tight enough for the edges to dig into his palms, he raised it threateningly at the older teen. "How are you flying?" he all but squeaked.  
Taking a few steps back, Jack raised his hands in the most non-threatening way he possibly could. "Put down the stick."  
"I'll put it down when you tell me how you flew. Normal people can't just fly!"  
A small smirk curved the edges of Jack's lips despite his effort to hold it back. "Just like normal people aren't friends with dragons?"  
Deflating slightly, the viking let his arms sag. The branch fell uselessly to the ground. "How are you flying?"  
The white haired teen swung his staff around, eliciting a growl out of Toothless. "Ever hear of a winter spirit?" Jack asked hopefully. It would make explaining what he was a little easier if the boy did know.  
The sound of Hiccup's light laughter had the spirit shifting nervously. "Jack Frost as in Jökul Frosti? Seriously?" He eyed the boy in front of him. "Aren't you supposed to be older? Or carrying a paint brush and a bucket to paint the leaves?"  
The look of sheer horror on Jack's face had Hiccup fighting back a smile. "Why would you think I would be old or spend my time painting leaves for that matter?"  
The viking ignored his words. "How do I know you're really Jökul Frosti?"  
"I'm not...where do you even get your information?" Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "Never mind," he sighed.  
Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest. "Prove you are who you say you are."  
"Is the floating not enough?" At the viking's raised brow Jack rolled his eyes, raised his staff, and froze the closest tree to them. "Are you happy now, dragon boy?"  
Hiccup's eyes widened at the sight while Toothless looked about ready to launch himself at the sprite. Patting the Night Fury's head, he turned back to Jack. "Is the rumor about you nipping noses true?"  
The frost spirit smirked at the younger boy. "It depends; are you into that?"  
Rolling his eyes at the comment, Hiccup gave Jack a wry smile. "Well, I guess this is good-bye, Frosti. I have a class to teach."  
His face fell. "Oh, okay. Bye, Hic."  
Feeling as if he was going to regret his words before he even said them, Hiccup sighed. "Maybe we can hang out again. You know, you could tell me all about how wrong your legend is."  
"I would like that very much." Grinning, Jack leaned forward and-much to the viking's surprise-nipped the tip of his nose. "Hm, I think I could get used to that, dragon boy." Jumping into the air, the frost spirit narrowly avoided the Night Fury's swinging tail. He flew off into the sky, leaving behind a very angry dragon and an embarrassed viking.

******Not that great, but eh... I didn't feel like I could start to write the fic I want to write before finishing this one.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own either.**_

___ Just as the boy turned to leave, Hiccup grabbed his fur shawl. His fingers tightened on the rough fabric before loosening and letting his arm fall awkwardly to his side. "I guess I'll see you later?" He looked off to the side, taking a sudden interest in one of the many over-sized axes hanging along the wall of the shop._

___ Jack grinned and ruffled the younger male's hair, messing it up enough to hear Hiccup's groan of disapproval. "Don't worry, Hic; I'll be back. I promise."_

It had only been a few days since the moon had told him his name was Jack Frost and he was ready to wake up from what could only be a nightmare. He had been having fun with his new found power until that first child walked through him.

After the first day he found himself tugging at the snowy tresses of his hair, an image of a certain viking boy flitting across his mind. It was strange; it was as if any memory he might have had was wiped clean, but Hiccup stood out clear in his mind. All Jack wanted to do was find the viking—he just wanted to see a familiar face in the crowd.

With only a few accidents along the way, Jack found himself in Berk. He flew through the sky until he found the familiar brown haired viking. Hiccup was sitting alone, leaning his back against a rough tree and drawing in his leather-bound sketch book. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he ran to his friend.

The sprite reached out to shake his shoulder. "Hiccup, something's wrong; I keep—" The words died in his throat when his hand passed through the boy instead of hitting solid flesh. Drawing his arm back, he sank to the floor beside his friend. "Please, not you too, Hic." A pale finger ghosted over a freckled cheek. "Look at me."

Hiccup dropped the book next to him, covered his face with his hands, and let out a shaky breath. Jack only had to lean over to see that the drawing Hiccup had made was a rough sketch of the winter spirit. Sighing in resignation, he smiled at the viking. "Don't worry, Hic. I'm right here."

Hiccup sighed. "The Gods hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me. I manage to lose an entire dragon." He slapped at a branch in his way only to have it swing back and hit him in the face.

Jack let out a small chuckle. "I always knew you were crazy, but going after a dragon..." Of course the brunette didn't hear him, but Jack refused to let it get to him.

The viking looked up to see the tree was snapped at the trunk. His eyes followed it to a path of up-turned earth and fallen trees. Stumbling down the trail, Hiccup peered over the dirt only to drop back down, breathing heavily. The sprite stood beside him, glancing at the legendary Night Fury bound in rope.

Fumbling for his dagger, Hiccup carefully approached the dragon. "Oh wow," he breathed in disbelief. "I did it. I did it! This fixes everything. Yes!" He planted his foot on the fallen Night Fury.

"I don't think you should do that," Jack warned pointlessly.

"I have brought down this mighty beast!" The dragon shifted, sending the viking jumping back in fear. So much for the whole ruthless viking bravado. The boy brandished his dagger and crept up to the dragon's head. The Night Fury gave the boy a cold stare, refusing to look away.

Leaning on his staff, Jack gave watched Hiccup carefully. "Just what are you doing?"

Hiccup let out a breath. "I'm going to kill you, dragon. I'm going to cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a viking."

Jack reached out to grab his arm, but stopped before he could make contact. He didn't want to go through him—not again. "Hiccup, you're not a killer."

"I am a viking!" He raised the dagger over his head, poised to cut into the beast. The seconds passed like hours until Hiccup slowly opened his eyes. Jack stood off to the side awkwardly while something seemed to pass between the two. The Night Fury lowered it's head, resigned to its fate. He started to lift the dagger again only to sigh and let his hands rest on his head. Looking at the restrained dragon, he dropped his arms. "I did this," he muttered.

Relaxing a bit, the sprite swung his staff over his shoulders. "You had me scared for a se—you're trying to get yourself killed, aren't you?" Jack walked back to the dragon, watching the viking cut the ropes with no way to stop him. Maybe if he froze him...

The Night Fury sprung forward, knocking the winter spirit to the ground and pinning Hiccup down. Struggling to stand, Jack stood just in time to see the dragon let out an ear-splitting shriek in the boy's face and fly erratically away.

Scooping up his crook, he grinned at Hiccup. "That was fun," he offered. Hiccup stood up, breathing heavily. He only took a few steps before his legs gave out. Chuckling, the sprite floated over to the passed out brunette. His features were softened from sleep and Jack couldn't help but marvel at the fact that he looked kind of...cute.

Jack watched on amused while Hiccup tossed a raw fish into the cove. "Most people run from dragons, but no, not vikings! You go looking for them."

The young viking peeked in. When he saw nothing, he tried squeezed through the gap in the rocks, only to find that his shield was stuck, much to the sprite's amusement. Ducking under, he entered the cove and picked up the fish. Jack looked back to see the Night Fury watching the two of them. "Hiccup, the flying lizard is staring."

The Night Fury snorted at that, alerting Hiccup to his presence. The dragon stalked towards Hiccup slowly, looking ready to pounce on the viking. Swallowing his fear, he held the fish out to the Night Fury. The fabric of his vest shifted and the dragon hissed, catching sight of the dagger at his waist.

Raising his staff, he got ready to freeze the dragon if he so much as snapped at Hiccup. Carefully touching the hilt of the dagger and eliciting another growl from the Night Fury, he threw it away. At the glare to his shepherd's crook, he groaned. "You've got to be kidding me. Really?" Sighing, he tossed it to the side. The dragon calmed almost immediately.

Stepping forward, he opened his mouth a bit revealing a mouth full of...gums? "Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had—" Teeth shot through his gums making the sprite jump. He snatched the fish out of Hiccup's hands and swallowed it. "—teeth," he finished lamely. Jack grinned at the two as the Night Fury—Toothless he supposed—went closer, looking expectantly at Hiccup. "Uh, no, no. I don't have any more."

He glanced over at Jack from the corner of his eye. Jack sighed. No human could see him, but of course the flying lizard could. "I've got nothing."

Toothless stepped forward, backing Hiccup against a rock. Staring at him for a moment, he regurgitated a chunk of fish into the boy's lap and looked back at him expectantly. Stifling a laugh, Jack glanced over to Hiccup. "He's waiting, dragon boy."

Toothless eagerly peered at the fish and then back to the viking. Catching his meaning, Hiccup flickered his eyes from the fish to the dragon and sighed in resignation. Gagging a bit, he took a bite of the slimy fish, hoping to satisfy the Night Fury. The dragon gestured for him to continue.

Hiccup dropped his arms in exasperation and forced the fish down, shuddering the whole time. He feigned a grin for Toothless. Studying the smile for a second the dragon's lips started quivering. He mimicked the boy as best he could, giving him a gummy smile.

Almost in a trance, Hiccup reached to touch the Night Fury only to have him growl and fly away, landing on the other side of the cove.

Jack raised a brow as Hiccup started walking over to the dragon that had just laid down again. "You don't give up, do you?" He laughed at the exasperated look the dragon gave Hiccup when he sat next to him. He seemed annoyed with the disturbance, but ignored him until Hiccup reached out again. Toothless glared at him until Hiccup got the hint and stepped away as innocently as he could.

Jack watched him while he sketched the outline of a boy in the dirt with a stick. Smiling softly, he leaned closer. "So that's me, huh?" Clearing his throat, Hiccup swiped his foot over the picture, erasing any evidence of it being there. He went back to drawing, this time sketching Toothless.

Said dragon crept up behind Hiccup, peering over his shoulder at the growing picture of himself. Hiccup tensed for a second before relaxing and finishing his sketch.

The Night Fury ran off only to come back with a large branch in his mouth. He moved in every direction, making haphazard lines in the earth. Seeming pleased with himself, he sat back and dropped the tree limb. Toothless looked between the two expectantly with a child-like pride.

Standing to his feet, Hiccup scanned the scribbles in the earth. Jack smiled softly at the boy as he strode into the chaotic mess. Accidentally stepping on one of the lines, he earned a growl from the dragon. Lifting his foot, he watched Toothless relax. The winter sprite floated over the markings. "You're playing with fire, Hic," he muttered when Hiccup gingerly dropped his leg back in place.

Noticing just how sensitive the Night Fury was, Hiccup carefully stepped in the gaps between the lines, twisting and turning to avoid any misstep.

Jack froze for a moment. Hiccup couldn't hear what he had to say, but he could read it. He would write out a message to Hiccup in the dirt. Maybe he would be able to see the sprite if he just knew he was there. Picking up his staff, Jack started tracing the words in front of the viking's drawing. He leaned against the shepherd's crook and appraised his message. Determining that it was suitable enough, he turned back to the viking, ready to throw a snowball at him to catch his attention. Jack was met with the sight of Hiccup resting a palm on Toothless' snout.

His grin turned wistful at the sight of the exchange. Hiccup looked so...happy.

Without him.

Who was he to ruin the boy's fun? Swiping his foot across the ground, he erased the message scrawled messily into the earth. '___I came back, Hic. Just like I promised.'_

Flying beside the two, the sprite couldn't help but look over every so often to make sure they weren't hurdling out of the sky. Again.

"Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow." Hiccup scanned his cheat sheet. "Here we go. Here we go. Position three." He looked back at the paper. "No, four." The tail flared out and they gracefully arced through the sky. Jack followed their movements, easily gliding beside them.

He eyed the mass of rocks rising from the sea in front of them. "Hey lizard, you think you can make it?" Toothless rolled his eyes and let out an indignant snort.

Hiccup caught sight of the same obstacle. " Alright, it's go time. It's go time." The two dove towards it, Jack following closely behind. They zipped through the arch without any problems. "Yes, it worked!"

"Hey dragon boy, watch where you're—" The dragon smacked into one of the rocks. "—going."

"Sorry." They hit another boulder. "My fault." Annoyed with the boy's lack of control, Toothless swatted him with his ear. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," he shot back. He referred back to the sheet. "Position four—uh, three."

They soared up, piercing through the clouds. Hiccup tightened his hold on the handles. Jack spotted the more than pleased look lighting up the dragon's face and grinned. Though his smile softened when he saw Hiccup mirroring the Night Fury's expression.

"Yeah! Go baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing!" he breathed. "The wind in my," the page ripped away from the saddle, "cheat sheet! Stop!" Reaching frantically for the sheet, he grabbed it out of the air before it could go too far.

Listening to the rider's command, Toothless stilled his wings. Jack could only watch on in terror as the viking floats off of the harness and starts to free-fall back to the ground. "Hiccup!" He desperately grasped at the boy only to go right through him. Fear shot through him. If Hiccup hit the ground...

He turned his attention to the roaring, flailing dragon. "Toothless, you need to calm down and get to Hiccup." No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't help Hiccup if he couldn't ___touch _him.

Jack could barely hear the viking over the wind, but he caught a few words. "...gotta kinda angle yourself..." Toothless spun, smacking the boys away with his wings.

"Stop spinning, you giant lizard!"

Extending his arm one more time, Hiccup finally caught hold of the harness and pulled himself on with just enough time to pull Toothless out of his dive. They shot past a cliff, just barely above the tree tops. The winter sprite skimmed the foliage, pushing himself faster in order to catch up with the dragon and his rider. His blue eyed widened when he realized they were on a crash course into a cluster of sea stacks.

Hiccup lifted the page only for it to flap violently in the wind, completely useless. Making a split second decision, he tossed the paper to the side and piloted the dragon based on instinct. Laughing in disbelief, Jack made precarious twists and turns beside the Night Fury, going at breakneck speeds to avoid the towering rocks.

After what seemed like both forever and just a second, they broke through to the open waters. "Hiccup, that was just...wow! That was amazing." Toothless snorted at him and slapped him with a giant wing. "Yeah, I suppose you did okay too."

Grinning widely, Hiccup threw his arms up and yelled out in triumph. Joining his rider in his glee, Toothless shot a fireball into the air.

Right in front of them.

The joy gave way to dread. "Ah, come on."

Jack sat atop his staff, patiently (sort of) waiting with the Night Fury for Hiccup to come back to the cove. Some days he wondered why he stayed. It wasn't like Hiccup could even see him. Of all the millions of people ready to ignore him, why did he stay with this one viking boy?

He grinned wearily ran a hand through his white locks. No matter how many times his words went unnoticed or his arm went through the viking, Hiccup just had to be Hiccup and Jack wouldn't even think about leaving his side. The sprite shifted uncomfortably at that train of thought. "It's only because Hiccup was such a good friend," he reasoned. "Of course I would want to be around someone I knew."

Toothless grunted and leered at the boy. Jack frowned over at the black mass. "What?" The dragon's eyes shifted from the sprite to the direction of the village in a way that could only be described as suggestively. Catching on to his meaning, Jack flushed. "Oh shut up. What do you know, you over-grown lizard?"

Narrowing his eyes almost playfully, the dragon pounced. Jack flew back, forming a perfect snowball in the palm of his hand. Drawing his arm back, he let the projectile fly, watching in amusement as it nailed Toothless between the eyes.

Catching the borderline murderous intent in the Night Fury's eyes, Jack bolted into the woods. He only got so far when the dragon surged forward and tackle him to the ground. He laughed nervously. "Come on, Toothless. Let me up."

The dragon huffed haughtily at him and pressed down on the sprite. The sound of muffled voices had them both freezing. Letting the boy up, they crept towards the voices together.

"No one just gets a good as you do. Especially you," a girl—Astrid if he remembered correctly—said. "Start talking! Are you training with someone?"

Hiccup's voice carried awkwardly through the air. "Uh...training?"

"It better not involve...this."

Jack floated to the edge of the cove, finally catching sight of the two vikings. Astrid held Hiccup by the harness he was wearing, staring him down. "I know this looks really bad, but you see...this is, uh..." He trailed off. Toothless moved closer to the edge, not liking the way she was grabbing his rider.

The sprite looked over his shoulder at him. "Calm down, she's friendly... I think."

He looked back over to see Hiccup rising from the floor and running up beside her while she stalked towards the concealed dragon. "You're right! You're right. I'm through with the lies. I've been making...outfits," he rushed out. "So you got me. It's time everyone knew." He grabbed her hand and put it back onto the harness. "Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go." She twisted his hand backwards, driving him to the ground. "Ow! Why would you do that?"

She kicked him back down when he started to get up. "That's for the lies." She bounced the hilt of her axe off of him. "And ___that's _for everything else."

Toothless roared at the rough treatment and ran to his viking. Jack scratched the back of his head. "This is not going to go well."

Hiccup was tackled by the girl. "Get down! Run! Run!" She stood with her axe cocked, ready to take on the towering beast. The girl was brave, Jack had to give her that. But it was Toothless and he wouldn't let her hurt the dragon he had begrudgingly grown fond of.

He lifted his staff, ready to shoot the weapon out of her hands. "No!" Hiccup jumped up and knocked her to the ground, pulling the axe out of her grip and throwing it away. "No. It's okay! It's okay; she's a friend." Toothless snorted while the brunette turned back to Astrid. "You just scared him."

She jumped to her feet. "I scared him?!" Toothless tried to push past his rider to get to the girl, but Hiccup held him back. "Who is him?"

Hiccup stepped forward, gesturing between the two. "Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid." The dragon snarled menacingly. Shaking her head, she gave him a look of utter disgust and ran towards the village.

The sprite looked at Toothless. "Somehow I get the feeling she doesn't like you."

"Dah dah dah, we're dead."

The Night Fury turned to walk away, Jack hot on his heels. "We really need to work on your social skills."

Hiccup turned back to his friend. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Rolling his cat-like eyes, Toothless turned back and waited for the boy to climb up on his back. The trio launched into the air, following the path of the viking girl.

Catching up to her, the dragon swooped down and snatched her from the ground. She screamed in terror. "Oh great Odin's ghost, this is it!" They brought her to the top of a towering pine, dangling her a hundred feet in the air. "Hiccup! Get me down from here!" she snapped.

"You have to give me a chance to explain."

She started to move away from the edge of the branch. "I am not listening to ___anything _you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak. Just let me show you." She looked down at the drop. "Please, Astrid."

Pulling herself up, she slapped his hand away and gingerly climbed up on Toothless' back. "Now get me down."

"Toothless, down. Gently."

Jack gave the dragon a mischievous smirk. "Just because she's a friend, doesn't mean we can't have some fun." The dragon spread his wings slowly, letting out a grunt in agreement. The two clearly had the same idea. "How about we take a little tour?"

"See?" Hiccup reassured. "Nothing to be afraid of." Toothless launched into the air, ignoring both the viking's screams. Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup, trying not to fall off. "Toothless! What is wrong with you?! Bad dragon!" He directed his attention back to the blond. " He's not usually like this." Toothless started twisting, bringing himself down. "Oh no..."

Jack whooped in delight, watching Toothless dip the teens into the water below and skimming the surface himself. Frost bloomed behind him.

"Toothless, what are you doing? We need her to like us!" he chastised.

The sprite and the dragon sped up into the sky. "Is that all you got?" Jack teased.

The Night Fury tumbled back down, spinning as he did so, leaving the sprite rushing to catch up with him. "And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

"Okay! I'm sorry!" Astrid finally blurted. "I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing." She buried her face in Hiccup's back, hiding her fearful expression. Satisfied, Toothless leveled out and rose slowly into the setting sky, plunging into the clouds.

Jack watched the sky bleed out into a starry night sky, northern lights flashing overhead. Mesmerized at the sight, the sprite turned to smile at Hiccup only to sigh. Even with the ride being much smoother Astrid still had her arms wrapped tightly around the brunette, the two relaxing into each other.

Toothless gave Jack a pitying look. They both knew just how Jack felt about the boy, just like they both knew it was never going to happen. He gave the dragon an empty smile. "It's nice to see the little squirt this happy," he commented. "He deserves it."

"So what now?" Jack brought his attention to the vikings' conversation. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to kill..." she looked down at Toothless and lowered her voice, unaware that he could still hear her, "...kill a dragon."

The sprite moved up to float beside Hiccup, waiting for his answer. "Don't remind me."

The once peaceful landscape gave way to a more sinister scene. Toothless' ears stood on end before he was diving into the clouds. Jack flew up to him. "What is this?"

"Toothless, what's happening? What is it?" Hiccup asked. Toothless barked at the two boys, the implied 'be quiet' clear in his voice.

Jack clamped his mouth shut, finally noticing the horde of dragons flying all around them. "Get down," Hiccup ordered.

"What's going on?" Astrid hissed.

"I don't know." He leaned towards the Night Fury. "Toothless. You've got to get us out of here, bud." Hundred of dragons emerged from the clouds, each carrying their game in their talons. "It looked like they're hauling in their kill," he observed.

One of the massive beasts eyed them hungrily. "What does that make us?"

They dove and twisted through the air until they reached the base of a volcano. Jack went as close as he could, but the heat was too much for him. He couldn't go in with the others despite how much he wanted to. Silently cursing, he shot a desperate look at the moon, shinning dimly through the fog. "Why would you make me remember someone who can't see me?" the sprite demanded. "How am I supposed to help him if I can't even touch him?" His only answer was a mocking silence.

Jack sat back, lazily scratching behind Toothless' ear___. _Hiccup was supposed to be in the ring killing his first dragon—a sight the sprite didn't want to see. Ears perking up, the Night Fury turned his head towards the direction of the village. "What's wro—Toothless?" he called as the dragon darted off. Grabbing his staff off of the ground, Jack flew after him. "Toothless!"

He saw the ring rising into view. The lizard was going to get himself killed by a horde of angry vikings if he wasn't careful. The sounds of a battle pierced through the air.

Both the dragon and the sprite quickened their pace, desperate to get there as fast as possible. Toothless roared when they finally reached the enclosure, eliciting terrified cries from the onlookers. Toothless bounded over the crowd and blasted through to the stadium.

Coughing and stumbling through the smoke, he finally saw Hiccup with a dragon towering over him. He lifted his staff and shot the dragon away from the boy and right into the Night Fury's path. The dragons grappled on the ground, teeth and claws tearing into each other.

Toothless shoved the other dragon off of him, planting himself between the beast and his rider. Roaring in warning, he forced the dragon to relent his attacks and back away. Hiccup jumped to his feet, passing through Jack to get to his friend. "Alright, Toothless, go. Get out of here!"

Hiccup tried to push the dragon away from him and out of the arena, but it wasn't going to work. Vikings started to crowd them, each going closer to Toothless. Jack held back as much as he could, shooting ice and tripping them up. The ones that got passed him were swatted away by the Night Fury.

"No dad! Dad, he won't hurt you!" Jack turned to see Stoick the Vast running towards them with an axe in his hand. Before he could make a move to stop him, Toothless was tackling him to the ground. "Toothless, stop!" The Night Fury opened his mouth wide, ready to set the viking ablaze. "No, no!"

Toothless stopped and turned to look back at Hiccup, then at Jack. The hesitation cost him. A weapon was thrown at his head before the viking came to drive him to the ground. "Toothless!" Jack lifted his staff, ready to freeze the vikings, but couldn't get a clear shot. And if he could, what was he going to do? Kill them?

"No! Please...just don't hurt him," Hiccup begged. "Don't hurt him." Astrid was holding him back, keeping him from running to his friend.

Stoick got to his feet, scowling at the dragon before him. "Put it with the others."

Hiccup stood watching the vikings get ready to sail to their deaths. Jack may not had been inside the volcano, but he didn't have to see the dragon to know it was ___big_. The fact that it had all the dragons scared was a feat in itself.

Jack leaned on his staff, eyeing the boy beside him. He looked so...defeated. That wasn't Hiccup. Hiccup was stubborn to a fault—why couldn't he be that now?

Astrid strode up next to Hiccup, passing through the sprite. He sighed, but contented himself with floating in front of them. "It's a mess. You must feel horrible." When Hiccup didn't answer, she continued. "You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend."

"Thank you, for summing that up," he drawled, appreciating her words just as much as the sprite did. "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? It would have been better for everyone."

"Yep," Astrid agreed. "The rest of us would've done it. So why didn't you?" Jack perked up, listening for his answer. "Why didn't you?"

"I don't know. I couldn't"

Astrid brushed off his halfhearted response. "That's not an answer."

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?"

Jack floated after them. "Because I wanna remember what you say, right now."

Hiccup was getting visibly angry. "Oh for the love of—I was a coward. I was weak. I wouldn't kill a dragon."

"You said wouldn't that time." Jack grinned, noticing what she was doing. He knew there was a reason he liked this girl.

"Whatever, I wouldn't!" he snapped. "Three hundred years and I'm the first viking who wouldn't kill a dragon."

Astrid broke the silence. "First to ride one though." They waited for Hiccup's response. "So..."

The anger was dying down. "I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him and I saw myself."

Jack wanted to hug the boy—to give him some sort of comfort, but he couldn't. He could only stand back and watch. "I bet he's really frightened now," she pointed out. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Probably something stupid."

"Good, but you've already done that."

Hiccup started moving back. "Then something crazy." he turned and ran.

The sprite followed after him, laughing in relief. "That's more like it, dragon boy." They stopped at the arena, standing in front of the heavy doors that keeps the dragons contained.

"If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." They turned to see all the other recruits standing behind them.

One of the blond twins stepped forward. Ruffnut? No, Tuffnut. Maybe. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon." Hiccup stood awkwardly, leaning back a bit. "It's me."

The bigger black haired one pushed him back. "I love this plan."

"I didn't..."

Ruffnut shoved Snotlout out of the way. "You're crazy. I like that."

Jack could only laugh as Astrid grabbed her by the hair and pulled her away. "So, what is the plan?" Hiccup looked back at his little rag-tag team with a small smile.

Jack could hear the roar from miles away, but it only pushed them faster towards the source. He choked a bit when he finally caught sight of what they were going to fight. That...___thing _was bigger than any dragon he had ever seen. He sighed, but followed them nonetheless.

When they got close enough, the dragons shot blasts of fire at the beast and circled around it. "Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs. Move, Fishlegs."

"Look at us! We're on dragons!" Tuffnut called down to the other vikings, ignoring the imminent danger.

Jack laughed. "Way to sort out your priorities."

"Fishlegs, break it down," Hiccup ordered. He wouldn't be half bad as a chief if he kept that up.

Jack tuned them out and scouted the area for Toothless. He finally spotted him on one of the burning ships, chained down. He landed in front of him, patting his head comfortingly. "You're going to be fine, Toothless."

A loud 'thump' sounded behind him, signalling Hiccup's arrival. "Go help the others," he called over to Astrid. "Hold on, hold on." He pulled the muzzle off of the Night Fury while Jack started on the chains.

The dragon's tail whipped across the ships, before he stomped on it. Toothless went under, Hiccup following closely behind. Jack jumped in and swam as hard as he could until he saw them. Hiccup looked close to passing out while Toothless couldn't move at all.

A viking—Stoick—easily pulled Hiccup to the surface, leaving the Night Fury behind while Jack yanked the heavy chains off. Toothless shot to the surface, pulling the sprite along with him. He righted Jack, then turned to his rider, nodding over to the fight. He rolled his eyes at Hiccup's eager determination, but found himself flying along beside them. Even if Hiccup didn't notice.

He didn't remember how it happened. One minute they were fighting—winning. The dragon was finally going down. Then Hiccup was falling with Toothless desperately trying to save him. Though the Night Fury was looking a little worse for wear himself.

The heat ___hurt. _Probably a lot more than it should have, but Jack pushed himself closer to the viking. He reached out to grab him, only to go through. "Damn it!" He reached for him again. "Hiccup!"

Here they were, free-falling through the sky when, for the first time since he had woken up, Hiccup's heavy-lidded eyes met his. He didn't look past him or over him, but ___at _him. Then he heard it; the quiet whisper in the screaming chaos."Jack?"

******Yeah, I'm not sure how this one turned out as like halfway through I kind of lost track of what I was writing. I meant for it to be short, and then it kind of got away from me and now it's over 5,000 words so...**


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